Studfold Community Nature Project

Welcome to the Studfold Community Nature Project, an unique investigation attempting to record all the flora and fauna on a hill farm in Nidderdale, North Yorkshire whilst also analysing the affect of farming and industry on the site since pre-historic times.

"This is a hill farm context with a truly exceptional level of historic/archaeological interest. The existence, across much of the area, of a system of ‘Celtic’ or presumably prehistoric fields is, on its own, justification for this claim. The existence within this system, of what appears to be a contemporary farmstead/hamlet further underlines the importance of the locality."

Dr Richard Muir – Leading Landscape Historian / Archaeologist, Author (over 50 books) and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Aberdeen

Studfold Heritage

We have found evidence of human activity on site from probably Mesolithic times to the current day. This includes:

Mesolithic:

Flints.

Iron Age:

No direct evidence yet but it is probable that these folk processed iron here.

Romano British:

Celtic fields, Romano-British farmstead.

Scandinavian:

Possible Building.

Monastic :

Owned by Byland Abbey, who exploited the lead and iron.

Agriculture :

The area has been farmed by seventeen generations of the Walker family.

Marble:

A polished limestone (Nidderdale Marble) used at Fountains Abbey may have been sourced from this area.

Limestone :

Exploited here both for land enrichment and for commercial reasons.

Wildlife :

We have already discovered over 700 different species on this small hill farm in Upper Nidderdale including a number of regionally rare species.